| Product: |
Gallagher's Boxty House |
| Date: |
13/07/07 (191 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: gorgeous food, lovely Irish atmosphere, location
Disadvantages: long wait for food, poor service
I was on holiday for the weekend with three friends in Dublin and we were walking round the main streets looking for somewhere to eat when we spotted the interestingly named 'Gallagher's Boxty House'. What is a boxty we wondered? we soon found out...
Outside the restaurant is inviting, painted dark green with gold lettering and big windows it looked clean and homely. Inside the boxty house is not all that big but just the right size for somewhere comfortable and intimate. It was nicely decorated with Irish looking things, pictures on the wall etc. It was easy to get service and a table - a nice one, like a booth by the wall. The menu was quite extensive and I liked the sound of lots of the dishes. My friend had steak (as always!) which was cooked to perfection. Of course, I chose a boxty! It turns out they are delicious things,savoury pancakes with a filling. I had chicken and it was beautiful, a nice aromatic sauce, big and substantial with the trimmings on the side, lovely.
The place itself is right in the main tourist spot slap bang in the city centre lively and popular Temple Bar area and is priced accordingly. It was a tad expensive but not more than you would want or expect to pay when on holiday, going somewhere a bit different and special. I like to try places offering specialitites and this boxty is apparently a special dish of Ireland - whole heartedly recommended.
What was particularly nice was the feeling of the boxty house being unique. They even sold souvenirs such as keyrings and t shirts. It felt very olde worlde and cosy with wooden furniture and Irish music. I do believe they have live music sometimes too which we saw advertised while we were there but did not have the pleasure of hearing for ourselves, I can imagine that would really make a wonderful evening -traditional Irish music with your boxty!
The bill was a surprise as they had added on a 20% gratuity charge which we thought was a little excessive, especially considering the service we received was minimal. Our bill was large as we all had full meals with pudding and alcohol, but we did not feel we had been served as such, the waiting staff brought out the food but none spoke much or even smiled. We also had to wait a long time even though it was not very busy. The waitresses were polite enough but it did not feel they really cared or made any real effort. I suppose they know their tip is assured so they need not bother too much to offer great service!
Anyway our Dublin trip was wonderful and the boxty house's food was superb. The only negative was the mediocre service.
Summary: Great tasting boxties - shame about the service
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Last comment:
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fizzywizzy - 18/07/07 Of course you can reufse the 20% charge and pay what you think is appropriate. I love boxties! |
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